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Following are excerpts from an interview with former IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei, which aired on Al-Nahar TV, February 25, 2012:
Mohamed Elbaradei: One takes part in public activity in keeping with one's conscience and views. One cannot participate in rigged elections. If you recall, I was often asked to join this party or that party…
Interviewer: And you are still being asked.
Mohamed Elbaradei: That's right, even before the revolution. I said that the [2010 parliamentary] elections should be boycotted, and I was accused of adopting a dissident approach. But my position prior to the revolution was correct. The same thing is happening today. I woke up one day and said to myself – and this is no exaggeration – that I cannot participate in this rigged process, because a man consists of his conscience and his views. Since my conscience is not clear, I cannot legitimize a process that leads Egypt in the opposite direction.
[…]
On February 11, 2011, when the army took over, it received a [warm] welcome. Today, the army – or rather, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] – is viewed in an entirely different light. Back then, it was viewed as the defender of the revolution, whereas today, you hear cries of "Down with the military rule" everywhere. What has changed? I am talking about policies, not about individuals. They have thwarted the revolution.
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The parliamentary elections were not conducted the way they should have been. The law made it difficult to form parties. You had to pay one million pounds. The division of constituencies… All over the world, the division of consistencies determines the winners. I don't even want to get into elections irregularities, but the laws themselves constituted violations. The result was that only five of the youth of the revolution made it to parliament, and only eight women, even though women constitute 46% of society. The women and the young people were most important in the revolution… Only seven Copts won. One percent…
Interviewer: All got insignificant numbers…
Mohamed Elbaradei: Even if you claim that these elections were free and fair – which I doubt – they do not represent the people. We must understand that democracy is not merely going to the ballot.
Interviewer: It is about justice and equal opportunities.
Mohamed Elbaradei: Each and every one should feel he is represented – the youth, the women, the Nubians, people from the Sinai, everyone – and that didn't happen.
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Yesterday, I was visited by one of the biggest investors from the Gulf, who invests billions in Egypt. The question he asked me gave me much distress – he asked me if I thought things were better today or in the days of Mubarak.
Interviewer: Oh dear. And you didn't know what to say?
Mohamed Elbaradei: No.
He said that at least in Mubarak's days… I told him that at least the barrier of fear has been broken. That much is certain. The people know how to gain their rights. I say to SCAF: Do not thwart the dreams of the youth. They will achieve…
Interviewer: The question is…
Mohamed Elbaradei: Even if we have lost the battle, the youth will win the war.
[…]